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GREENSBORO - A group of city residents tasked with reviewing complaints against the police plan to ask for a meeting with City Manager Mitchell Johnson to discuss ways to improve race relations and restore trust in the police department after a week of turbulence.

David Wray resigned as police chief Monday amid questions of his handling a police unit dubbed the "secret police" and irregularities in personnel matters.

On Tuesday, Johnson said Wray tried to cover up the actions of the unit, which included hiding a "black book" with pictures of 19 officers and targeting black officers for investigation.

The Complaint Review Committee of the Human Relations Commission suggested contacting Johnson at their monthly meeting Wednesday, said John Shaw, the city's human relations director. A letter was scheduled to be sent to Johnson either late Friday afternoon or early next week, he said.

The letter and idea for a meeting was initiated by the Complaint Review Committee but will come from the entire Human Relations Commission, said Wayne Abraham, vice chairman of the commission and chairman of the complaint committee. They'd like to talk to Johnson about how to restore trust and any changes that may need to be made within the police department.

"One of our concerns is the extent that racism might be pervasive throughout the department," Abraham said.

Shaw and Abraham said Johnson has been open with the public so far.

But the city does have some work to do in rebuilding relationships between police and minority communities, said Shaw, who also serves as executive director of the city's Human Relations Commission. For those residents, their worst fears about police have been confirmed.

"I don't know how we're going to rebuild trust with those folks," he said.

But "if we didn't have a fine police force, we would have never uncovered the black book, " Shaw said.

The Human Relations Commission will be active in determining what steps the city needs to take in addressing race relations. But the results of investigations being done by the city will determine further actions, Shaw said.

The American Civil Liberties Union is also waiting to see what comes next, said Amiel Rossabi, president of the state chapter .

"At this stage I'm satisfied that Mitch Johnson is looking at this," he said. "I also think we're not at a resolution yet."

The group has not been approached by any officers, Rossabi said.

Melvin "Skip" Alston, a member of the executive board of the Greensboro chapter of the NAACP, said many questions still need to be answered. The outspoken Guilford County commissioner said the discovery of a "black book" confirms long-held fears that African American males are targeted by police.

"It's proof that it's nothing new, but it's sad that it's still happening," he said.

Contact Amy Dominello at 373-7091 or adominello@news-record.com